Location: Canis II





Time: 07:44 Hours






The air is consumed with weapons fire and flame, heavy with the smell of gunpowder and heated metal, bullets and beams whistling past each other as the toads try to force the mammal forces to withdraw, shermans and m10's equipped with dozer blades or chunks of metal acting as shields absorb most of the punishment while half-tracks try to cover them with machine guns and cannon fire, our aircraft of improvised planes and helicopters keep going after them even with the thick covering of anti-air fire. We have crushed the two outer defense lines, attacking the third line all all that separates us between us and the enemy base, we can do it... I just wonder how many loses we'll take...






"All 105's, shell em with a wide pattern, flamethrower tanks prepare for assault!" while spraying my smg and speaking in my radio, I look behind me "THE FLAMETHROWERS ONLY HAVE ONE BURST LEFT! MAKE IT COUNT!"






The 105 tanks open fire, smashing the outer bunkers or hitting mg nests and reinforced posts as mortar fire hits all around us, they tanks turn their turrets and fire and repeat for about ten seconds, I give the order for the flame tanks to press, the battered machines are on their last legs as their engines cry out for death in squeals of torture, their gears begging for mechanical failure, some of them even having had their crews exchanged due to casualties, the holes still being their along with past crimson flow, a few explode from heavy weapons fire, the flames consuming them as slow down while the others unleash their final spray of hellfire, the 76mm shermans unleashing high explosive shells into the bunkers themselves while we quickly sprint at new openings, shotguns slam-fire or deliver full-auto bursts before we charge into tunnels and trenches with sub-machine guns and assault rifles, as for me I join those moving over the fortifications, taking the lead as I flame and shrapnel passes by, the flamethrower tanks being bailed out as their crews link up with infantry... the dying tanks can now finally rest alongside their past crews.






There is no time to mourn, no time for us to pay our respects... such a time will come either when we finally fall or after we raise our flag, we are the new storm troopers, we struck at zero hour with everything with had and with our speed and firepower we nailed them with an iron fist. Time will tell as step in the green crimson with flying brass, our loses are great and they are only going to get worse as we continued our advance... that doesn't matter now, all that did was achieving our objective, the toads only had a few options open to them, kill all of us, retreat, surrender or fight us til the bitter end.






I radio Willy "Enemy post in the trench, fire for effect!"






A boom sounds and a second later the post just in front of me is destroyed, I jump down and reload, tossing a grenade in each hold I pass, a toad jump out but I gun him down with ease. I hear movement behind me, I look to see what looks like a toad commando but he gets torn up a second later, I glance up to see two soldiers armed with shotguns, I motion to have them form up with me and we begin to sweep the trench. A turret explodes from being hit by a passing sherman, it's 76mm smoking as it strolls with it's dozer blade blown into two half's and riddled with laser holes and burn marks, it's co-axial .30 cal spraying full metal jackets with the bow gun with it's top guns having been shredded off. A nearby M10 gets taken out by a toad tank as the latter falls back from battle damage, a passing fighter-bomber of ours drops it's explosive and takes the tank out by flipping it into the trench as it's turret flies off. We've made it this far, we just had to use the shock and awe a little longer, we just had to keep pushing with what we had, given how empty these trenches are compared to the previous two... I think it's only a matter of time.






................................................






From the toad base, a toad general eyes the falling defense line, the human had done what he had thought was impossible but he was able to rally the remaining forces while also broadcasting a message across the Aniverse. With how quickly the mammals overwhelmed the defense line and broke into the second, he decided to pull back his forces in favor of using a weapon that hasn't seen use in more then a century.






The toad looks at his subordinates "Prepare the bullfrog cannons and artillery, if my cannons do as they are suppose to, then Komplex will accept it for mass production."






An officer looks to him "But General Tor, the use of such a weapon is outlawed by interstellar law and is a war crime."






Tor glances to him "All is is fair in war my naive friend, besides I am close to retirement age and I'd like to have a victory to end it.", he looks back out the window "Besides, if we kill this human he'll be a martyr... but if we can make him retreat or surrender, the rest of them will simply lay down their arms."






Just outside of the command center, massive tanks move into place, these beasts are super-heavy tanks, their only weapon is this 250mm long range gun with a spring mid-way and a buffer at the end of the barrel, their crews equipped with hazard suits, these are the bullfrog self-propelled guns... these tanks are made to fire one type of round, not one of powder or metal, but something far more sinister...






..............................................






In space the toad fleet continues to stand firm for the siege, Aldebaran ships emerge with Felicia leading the charge, their tealish and smooth hulls breaking up the void as their plasma cannons, plasma torpedoes and phasers ready to fire. The felines are at their holographic stations while the gems of their suits give a barely noticeable glow, the small fleet of cats ready to break the toads down and to reinforce the forces down below and under the Queen's orders, bring Adam back home.






A feline working the sensors looks to her "I am picking up more Aldebaran ships, exiting hyperspace."






The blue haired cat raises an eyebrow "Open comms!"






Irene appears on the main monitor "I am here under orders from my master, we were able to secure some ships. We are more then ready to lend our arms to this fight!", she looks to a feline off screen "Taking both fleets into account, how many of them are there compared to us?"






A cat off screen answers "They out number us five to one."






Irene looks to Felicia with a smirk "You hear that? It is an even fight!" as she crosses her arms.






Felicia laughs "So it seems Irene! The rest of the U.A.C. fleet will arrive shortly, in the meantime let's crook some toads sister!"






The two groups open fire at the toads with their long range phasers, carving the outer ships with ease, the toads quickly return fire as they raise their shields, the lasers cannons having no effect on the shields of feline vessels, only sending rippling waves across the front of the shielding, plasma torpedoes launch in vollies of three, at first being solid spheres before turning to full plasma with a metnetic core, upon impact they act like shaped charges and explodes across the toad ships, annihilating them in a wave of green explosions as the metnetic cores zoom through the shields and drags the plasma with it into the hulls of the ships. The toad ships are literally burning in the cold void, the greenskins panicking as they find themselves being crushed, so they charge towards them, making themselves ready to stop the cats from reinforcing.






Felicia looks to the planet 'We are almost there Adam, just please hang in there a little longer.'






A sensor operator calls out "The fleet has arrived!"






The Righteous Indignation emerges with the Corsair Canards acting as vanguards while the gathered fleet emerges, ships from across the mammal worlds can be seen, from small blockade runners to rare battlecruisers. The blue haired feline gives a smile as she gives the order for the plasma cannons to fire and for drop ships to ready for deployment. On the Righteous Indignation however, Jenny feels a wave of anger as she sees the ruined world, all she can think of now is trying to set foot on the world and to reinforce, but the way needed to be cleared first.






....................................................






I reload my mp3008, the third defense line has finally been dealt with save for some holdouts here and there. I look up and I can see explosions of green, I smile as I feel a tear leave... we got through, I guess we have angels on our shoulders after all.






Willy's 105 comes over to me as pokes his head out of the rear hatch "Looks like the battle is almost over!" as his eyes shine.






I look right at him "It isn't over yet though, the toads are still heavily entrenched. We need any remaining artillery to take position here, all remaining half-tracks, M10's and 76's will continue to push with infantry in tow."






Willy adjusts his glasses "We don't have many shells left, but we can unleash a full salvo no problem."






We go back on the offensive with our artillery tanks firing at the toads, but no return fire comes our way at all... in fact the outer structures look abandoned... something's not right!






I yell "ALL FORCES HOLD AND CEASE FIRE!"






Everyone stops and looks to me in confusion as the artillery tanks stop firing their guns, I pull out some binoculars as I get on top of ruined toad tank and start to look at the toad base, I see these huge tanks with equally intimidating guns aiming our way but not firing, I see a toad holding up a red flag, it begins to swoosh our way and he looks to be giving the all clear, the massive tanks fire with these loud booms sounding from these tanks, I lower my optics as shells land, some are normal shells but most dig into the dirt and begin to release this thick dark green gas comes our way.... I freeze as I look to see the remaining grass turn black on contact and copper fittings becoming caked in a light green corrosion.






I say into my radio "Listen to me, if you can seal yourselves in your tanks do so, any one who has respirators put them on, if you don't soak some cloth in some urine and wear it, they are using chlorine and bromine gas!"






Artillery rounds start to pumble us, I grab a piece of cloth and quickly wrap it around my face as I lost my helmet ages ago, I stare at the approaching cloud as I take few steps forward... reading my chainaxe as I drop my submachine gun.






.........................






The Righteous Indignation and Aldebaran craft break through the atmosphere, the sight of gas catching their attention instantly as it smashes into the mammal forces.






Jenny begins to tear up "Willy... Adam... Deadeye...!", her eyes turn into a glare as she looks to the toad base "You are going to pay for this... YOU HEAR ME!"






Bucky braces for a moment "Jenny, there is nothing we can do for them... all we can do is hope they took cover in time.", he makes a fist "But you are right... the toads are going to pay for what they have done here."






Felicia let's some tears loose as she sees the gas, the toads had just deployed an illegal weapon, what worse is that Jemmy tries to contact Adam, only for him not to answer, she wants to just loose it and go on a killing spree, but she can't. She does contact Willy who responds as he's hunkered down inside his 105 sherman, but he can't see what is going on outside due to the gas, the sight is broadcasted to the ruined remains of the surrendering toad ships and to the mammal ships, silence grips them as the horror takes them by surprise. The gas soon begins to fade to see the mammal lines have been completely decimated, the toads begin making their way towards them while anti-air guns begin to take position, just before Bucky gives the order motion detectors start picking up movement... and not where they are expecting.






The toads stop as they see the bodies of the mammals begin to rise, crimson flowing from their mouths and coating their chests, from some of the M10's bloodied hands can be seen for a moment before the engine kicks on, then they see him, the human rising as he ditches the cloth on his face, the chainaxe revving, the sight sends shock and horror across both sides.... how were they still alive after that?!






...........






I have my chainaxe rev as I cough, my lungs burn in pain as crimson flows from my mouth, I look to the toads in front of us who look completely horrified, I look to see those who I have been leading and they aren't in any better shape then I am, if this is how we die then so be it... the weapons of the past had been born again, along with one of the most defining moments of the first world war.






I look back to the toads as I regain my sense, I raise my chainaxe "ATTACK!!!" and I run towards the toads, hearing many following me as machine guns blaze.






The toads panic and begin to run away as scattering bullets land some hits, they trample over each other as they try to escape, getting tangled in barbed wire and even stepping over their mines, I cleave one in two while some of the others grab onto and drag them down to be torn to shreds by their bare hands, clubbed entrenching tools or bayoneted. Our charge keeps going as the open-topped tanks charge onward, as if possessed by a blood-thirsty creature with it's guns firing wildly. For the toads that are entrenched, most flee but a few decide to open fire, gunning some of us down, but like a horde we simply keep charging, we smash into their ranks a few more begin to flee but they are quickly caught, the few of us equipped with flamethrowers hit the artillery tanks and shoot flames onto them. A shuttle tries to fly away but I pick up a toad bazooka and shoot it down, I ready my axe once more and continue to press.






..................






Deadeye watches the whole ordeal from his sniper scope, it looked like something out of zombie movies and other works of horror, a horde bent on only one objective regardless of loses, a horde that'll kill and consume all that gets in it's way, one of his supporting snipers throws up, the display finally turning her stomach as the others try to keep it down, watching their bloodied comrades literally ripping the toads apart as they scream. Willy looks at the carnage from a para-scope as he's completely frozen while his nose begins to bleed from trying to process the scene before him. Everyone in orbit is equally mortified, even the most battle-hardened having to look away as the toad base is quickly being both dismantled and consumed, within about ten minutes the base is alive in flame and explosions, a few toad shuttle barely able to escape with those who boarded, but most of the toads only had one option... to stand their ground as surrender flares were launched but it doesn't stop the horde, not even for a moment.






The toad commander stands there in awe as the human leads these troops, not only did using the weapon not give him the result he wanted, but now he had kicked off the final push as these mammals already claimed they would fight to the end... now from their point of view they had nothing to lose, the gas having inflicted it's inhumane wounds. The human is leading baboons and canines through the front doors, having been breached with a demolition charge, stormtoads unload shotgun shells and blaster fire while the mammals either beat them to death or return weapons fire, the humans chainaxe painting the walls with splashes of crimson with every swing as the mammals being with him fall as they finally succumb to their wounds. It isn't long before only he is charging through the halls, every breath releasing bile from his lungs, a toad fires his shotgun which shreds the front plate off, revealing the memory stone to see it's ablaze in a hateful red which catches everyone's attention.






The human roars as he raises his right hand and the toad smashes into the wall, with a motion he sends another through a fan, two more get broken in half while he cleaves a third.... the toads that try to run but they can't, he flings incendiary grenades which ignites the surrounding area in flame, his gaze slowly looks to the overall commanding officer as he revs his chainaxe. The group of toads stand there stunned at the display the human had just given, he had sent toads to their doom with gestures, the gem on display glowing a sanguine red as fluid from his burned through his mouth. His eyes began to glow blue as the gem ignited into blue flame, the surrounding fire changing to a similar hue. The fire behind him joined into the form of a fierce canine but it looked more quadrupedal, it's eyes of white flame stared at them, the form rises it's head and howls, human raises his gored chainaxe, his features in a feral snarl.






Tor finally says it "What... are you?!" as he shakes in fear.






Like a feral creature the human lashes forward, giving a howl like the canine, closing in on the toads as the chain weapon roars.






.....................






The mammal forces from orbit land with drop ships and storm the area with medical personnel rushing to the dead and dying, Jenny sees Felicia motioning her to come with her forces, the pink haired feline nods and runs over to them.






Bucky sighs to himself 'Jenny... I hope you are prepared for the worse.' fearing Adam's condition.






Jenny and Felicia lead their force of felines through the command building, their plasma and phaser weapons training on the surrounding area. The carnage is nothing short of amazing, but the deeper they go the fewer mammal bodies they find until only the toads can be seen, hit with either bullets or cleaved. They soon come to the command center and it bares all kinds of horror, about half the room looks to have been engulfed in flames, crimson smears are all over the walls with imprinted signs of toad bodies, it took a moment for it all to register in their minds but they see Adam laying face down on the other side of the room with remains of what use to the toad officer in charge and his guards and they quickly run over to him.






Jenny cries "Adam!?" as she kneels and picks him up, she turns him around and cradles him "Adam, it's Jenny... please wake up."






No response comes from the human, but they can hear his weak breathing, having a fluid-like sound to it. But the Aldebaran's notice the memory stone around Adam's neck, the pink haired feline stunned at the sight.






Felicia curiously looks to her "What's wrong master Jenny?" as she kneels to help Jenny hold the human.






Jenny looks to her "That memory stone was red when I gave it to him."






This catches Felicia and their sisters attention instantly, the blue haired cat finds her words "That takes a lot of willpower and focus to accomplish, how did such a thing happen?"






Jenny looks to the human as she goes to touch it, as soon as she grasps and links with it she suddenly sees a wolf born of blue fire, the sight alone was terrifying but she can feel the presence coming from it... it felt like it could rival the Father Quark Demon in nature. She breaks the connection, her new shocked look for all to see as the memory stone gives a bright blue shine.






Felicia blinks "What happened?" completely in the dark.






Jenny speaks up "A wolf, not one of the Aniverse but a wolf none the less. It's presence was pure primal fury and feral intuition and it felt ancient like something buried behind humanity itself.", she pulls herself together "But right now we need to get Adam to Aldebaran, he won't survive otherwise." as she goes to stand, cradling the human in her arms as what's of his armor finally falls off.






The artificers begin to make their way out of the building, Jenny keeping the human braced as best as she can, she can hear a gasp for air every so often as his bloodied face and mouth bared so much pain... they honestly are surprised he's even alive. As they exit the building everyone's eyes go to them, Adam's other crew-mates stop dead in their tracks at the sight of him, the spilled crimson on his armor was starting to turn brown in it's thinner areas and his skin is extremely pale.






Jenny calls out "Get the severely wounded on board the Aldebaran transports, they need to be treated for gas poisoning and chemical burns!"






Jenny brings Adam into the drop ship Felicia and her group arrived in, the medic on board quickly gets Adam ready for transport and they soon leave Canis II. The ride to Aldebaran is a quiet one, Jenny never lets go of the humans hand as she keeps her gaze on him, the other felines are equally silent as those that can also gather around him, the medical officer continuing to apply what aid she can give to the human, but she doesn't have all the tools they needed and all she can do is try to buy him some extra time. The arrival to the world was equally tense as it saw the return of the human who is instantly taken to the most well-equipped hospital where they give Jenny and Felicia horrifying news about how deep his injuries are and he is taken to be operated on. The two are in the waiting room, every second feeling like an hour as more and more wounded from the attack are brought in... out of those that directly followed Adam in the attack only around a hundred survived long enough to be brought here.... out of a force of around eight thousand strong.






Jenny sees the others from her crew with Willy even being present 'How are they going to handle the news I give them?'






Bucky sees the terrible look on her face "How bad is it? Is Adam..."






The feline speaks up "He's alive, but Adam's injuries are very sever." as she's doing her best to keep from crying "His lungs were effectively destroyed by the gas and his eyes have also suffered extensive damage, he is currently in surgery getting bio-tech replacements and enhancements."






The news hits them pretty hard, Deadeye's blood pressure skyrockets as he just feels so angry at what the toads had done and Willy becomes wracked with guilt, while Adam did order him to remain in his tank to avoid the gas, he should have disobeyed and gotten him inside... instead he witnessed the horror from inside the protective hull of the sherman he was in, watching the forces all around him suffocate and fought on. As for Deadeye he saw the display while leading one of the other armies, seeing the gas and the effect it had on Adam and his forces, making them fight like berserk shock troops from the depths of hell as if they were on their last breath, their rampage across the toad fortification was nothing short of being horror made manifest.






A doctor comes out of the operating room, she sees everyone gathered as Bucky and Jenny go up to her, waiting for an answer.






Bucky says "How is he doc?" with his arms crossed and afraid of the felines answer.






The surgeon sighs "Adam will survive, his body is handling it's new organs well... but he will be medically discharged for some time. If you didn't bring him in when you did he would've died in another ten minutes."






The doctors words had hit home for all of them, the doctor brings them to the recovery wing and they soon enter Adam's room. The human is completely striped of his gear save the blue memory stone with a powerful breathing apparatus and various i.v.'s linked to him with his torso heavily bandaged up. The group goes over to him as the doctor checks his vital signs, Jenny gently takes his hand, there's barely a pulse and he feels cold to the touch.






The doctor notices something looking at the scans, using her memory stone she speaks to Jenny 'His cells are being revived, not just wounded tissue but also dead cells are being effected.' as she sends an image to Jenny as well.






Jenny glances to the blue memory stone and it's active, she can sense it's energy and it's effects, she replies telepathically 'The memory stone is healing him alongside the medical applications... I have never seen anything like it.'






They hear foot steps, they all turn to see Mimi enter with an ornate box and moving towards them, the vixen doing her best to look and stand firm. Bucky knows what this is, Adam's being awarded with honors but he won't be awake for a while to really enjoy them.






Mimi places the box down as she looks to the recovering human "Adam, you are being rewarded for your bravey and going above and beyond the call of duty.", she opens the box "You are being awarded with the purple heart, the navy cross and the most distinguished medal, the medal of honor. You have also been promoted to first lieutenant by the U.A.C. for your example." and gives a salute.






Everyone joins the salute, now to hear that Adam was basically the same rank as Jenny is nothing short of extraordinary and through blood had earned him quite a distinguishing service. Willy decides to present him with a medal of own, one that the human would instantly recognize, he pulls out with his left hand as they stop saluting what looks like a black cross with the ends sprayed outward and the edges showing white edges and attached to a ribbon of red, white and blue vertical stripes, he knows he has everyone's full attention, but this time was very appropriate for it.






Willy walks over to the box "Adam, if I know you as well as I think you do, this is the iron cross, your feat of heroism and display of courage will be remembered in this war and for the future." and he gently places it neatly in the box, the human giving him a second salute.






Jenny glances to Willy, she sees that those blue eyes are now drained with no innocence left, she can only imagine the battles the humans fought on Canis II but they both fought with everything they had, the feline wraps an arm around him and gently pulls him in, she now had both humans with her and she doesn't plan on letting them go any time soon.






Queen Katrina and two royal guards along with some of the high ranking artificers enter, the women join the small crowd as Katrina's gaze focused on Adam, going over to his left as she catches sight of the memory stone. The artificers try to keep themselves together, but the sight of him, a new son of Aldebaran having been ravaged so brutally made it hard for them, they were mothers who had young as old as he was or younger and it started to paint pictures in their minds of such a horrid thing had occurred to them.






Katrina takes the humans left hand "Adam, I'm not sure if you can hear me or not but it's Queen Katrina. I know I can't do anything to take the damage done unto you away, but I want you to know that the motherland stands with you, that the Artificers stand with you, the sisterhood will nurse it's brother back to health and care for you. When you spoke we felt your spirit, we felt how proud you were that our world became your home, we never thought... an outsider would ever act in such a way, I'm happy you proved us wrong and we welcome you home."






Both Katrina and Jenny feel their hands being faintly squeezed, Adam had heard everything they had said and he was trying to communicate with them, the felines let some tears loose in knowing there is nothing they can do but stand by and wait for him to heal. Soon the room clears out, but Jenny stays to keep the human company as he goes through this process.






Screens talking about the news say that Komplex, the a.i. behind the toads has something to say about all of this, the a.i. appears "This is Komplex, I am broadcasting on every frequency so that every mammal and toad can hear me. I do not condone the use of chemical weaponry, I strictly stated that such tools are not to be used!" it puts on a more angry expression "I am having every armory of the Toad Empire searched, anyone caught with such weaponry will face either face death or exile with all ties to the Empire severed! Use of such weaponry is banned by interstellar law and I outlawed all production of them while seeing any stock piles disposed of, I have no need for such tools of massacre. If you can't fight with the categories of tools that are allowed, it says more to me then to the mammals that you do not respect my wishes.", it's expression becomes more neutral "For the survivors of Canis II, for the ones who are suffering from the gas, you have my full respect and admiration, the demonstration of valor and courage sets a great example for all to follow. Which is why, with permission from the U.A.C. council and Aldebaran Queen Katrina, I would like to send an envoy to award them. Even though we are at war, hopefully we can find some form of common or middle ground to meet at. Thank you for your time, Komplex out."






Felicia looks to her queen "Is Komplex serious about this? Does it really expect us to believe it has a code of ethics?" while folding her arms.






Katrina shakes her head "I will never allow any toads to come near this world, it would set a bad example and many would view it as a slap in the face."






Bucky nods in understanding "We'll see if maybe we can do a rendezvous, if Komplex is serious we'll get the awards and bring them here and we'll scan them for any tricks the toads may have just in case. For now the wounded need to be taken care off, they should be our first priority after all."






Jenny is still sitting with the human, replaying the entire day in her mind and what she witnessed... the fighting for Canis II was a victory for the U.A.C. but at what price? So many dead and wounded with many suffering from a horrific gas attack, can this really be called a victory at all? Those green eyes go to the human's closed gaze, she wishes she can see those blue eyes open, to hear his voice and for him to say he was okay or talk about something. But all she's receiving is mechanical breathing machine as trying to connect with the memory stone only results in seeing the wolf, it wasn't hostile to her but it was on guard and it's energy was helping Adam recover. The only question she is asking herself right now is this... how is he going to act when he finally wakes up? Will he be the same in some way or entirely changed? She gently nuzzles the side of his face, she reclines the chair a little and while holding his hand decides to take a nap.






To be continued....